Sounds of Symbolism
by Rory von Trapp
Summary: Or How the White House Staffers Found Their Theme Songs . Ensemble piece in which The Sound of Music is discussed over beer.


_This was originally written for SorkinFest over at Livejournal; just a little fun combining my favorite show with my favorite movie._

_My thanks to Jennifer, as always. You're amazing._

_--_

The solitary sound of shuffling cards and clinking poker chips, they knew, was too good to last.

"Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote eleven musicals. Can anyone name them?"

"Deal the cards, Mr. President," Leo warned.

"There are eleven. We could go around the table and see how many you get."

"God, could we," Josh asked, taking a sip from the beer bottle in front of him.

"All right, Mr. Lyman, you're up first."

Josh sighed. "Oklahoma."

"He was nuts for the ballet dream sequence," CJ quipped.

"Okay then, Ado Annie, what's another one?"

"That's another thing," CJ said, leaning forward onto her elbows. "You definitely have a thing for Ado Annie."

"CJ!"

"Fine. The Sound of Music."

"Ah," Sam piped in. "The final collaboration. It opened on Broadway nine months before Hammerstein died and the film is one of the highest grossing movies in history."

"Seriously, your brain is freakish." Toby puffed on his cigar and nodded towards the President across the table. "Look what you've started, sir."

"All in a day's work, Toby."

"You know, I just adore Julie Andrews," CJ said. "She was knighted by the Queen of England. Wouldn't it be incredible to be a Dame?"

"You're only the Press Secretary to the President of the United States," Bartlet commented dryly, passing the cards around the table. "That's almost as good."

CJ snorted and popped the top off her second beer. "Yeah."

"Think of how beautiful Salzburg must have been while they were filming."

"Well, Sam, we're going to Vienna in a couple of months. If you're a good boy, maybe we'll let you stay over a couple of days and you can go to Salzburg and take the bus tour of all the film sites."

"Please, sir, tell me you're making the bus tour up," Josh pleaded, running his hand over his face.

"I am not," Bartlet denied enthusiastically. "You should learn all about the film sites, Josh. Then we could all go and you could be our tour guide."

"Why not? The Alps seem an easy enough place for someone to disappear. I could become a hermit and be the one twirling on the mountain top…" He froze. "Not that I would twirl…ever."

CJ laughed. "We could take some pictures. You know, for your fan club."

"Do you really think that would be appropriate, CJ?"

"You're the one who brought it up."

"A slip of the tongue; I'm a little drunk."

"Moving on, please," Leo said. "These are images of Josh I don't need in my head."

"All of you are culturally deprived. What you should be focusing on is the music…" Toby paused. "…if we're really going to have this ridiculous conversation."

"Says the man who claims to be no fan of musicals…" CJ said.

"As a general rule, yes, but I appreciate good work and there are some films every person should see and songs everyone should be familiar with."

The President lifted his bottle. "Well said, Toby! We should all have theme songs."

"That's not quite what I meant, sir."

"Nevertheless, I think the curmudgeon here," he gestured to Leo, "is best described by 'Climb Ev'ry Mountain.'"

"I don't follow rainbows, sir."

"See," Bartlet smiled. "He does know the song. And sure you do. Now, what about Josh?"

"Mr. President, I don't need a theme song."

CJ grinned. "I know. He's that song that the nuns sing about Maria being so much trouble."

"I resent that."

"The Secret Plan to Fight Inflation, …"

"Okay, okay. What would yours be, CJ?

"Hers would be 'Something Good,' I think," Sam said. "Perhaps she had a wicked childhood, but did something to redeem herself?"

CJ shot him a sultry look as she sipped her beer. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Sam swallowed hard before the President cut in. "Excellent. Next?"

"At the risk of revealing that I actually know a few things about this movie, I think the song she sings on the way to the von Trapp house fits Sam. It's all about growing into your confidence."

"I agree, Josh."

"Thank you, Mr. President."

"I'm not sure I understand," Sam said.

"It's how you approach every project," Josh explained. "Your confidence in what you're doing grows as you get deeper into whatever you're working on."

Sam smiled. "Okay. But now you need a song, sir."

"That's easy," CJ said. "Yours is 'Do-Re-Mi', Mr. President. You're the teacher and the leader."

"Nice choice, Claudia Jean. Thank you. As for Mr. Ziegler here, I have the perfect song."

"And what would that be, Mr. President?"

"Edelweiss."

"Bless my homeland forever."

"You said it right, Toby."

"Thank you, sir. Now let's play cards."

"Not so fast. We've wandered a bit. Those were only two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. What are the other nine?"

Toby sighed. "Carousel, South Pacific, Me and Juliet, Pipe Dream, Flower Drum Song, State Fair, Cinderella, Allegro, and The King and I." He took a breath. "Check or bet, Mr. President?"


End file.
